A DISGRACED GP has been banned from the medical profession after he ran over and killed a great grandmother while his eyesight was “severely impaired”.

Dr Aloke Basu, 67, was jailed for two years and banned from driving for life when he was found guilty of dangerous driving at Basildon Crown Court in May last year.

He has now been forbidden from ever working as a doctor in the UK again after a medical tribunal ruled he was no longer fit to practise.

The verdict, handed down at a special tribunal in Manchester, means Basu will be struck off the General Medical Council’s register.

The GP, of Burges Road, Thorpe Bay, killed Shirley Watkins, 74, after getting behind the wheel, despite knowing he suffered from cataracts in both eyes, chronic glaucoma and short-sightedness.

The Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service hearing ruled his actions had brought the profession into disrepute.

Dr Harvey Marcovitch, who chaired the panel of three which decided Basu’s fate, said: “The panel is satisfied the matters underlying Dr Basu’s conviction involved a serious departure from the standards of behaviour which the public is entitled to expect from a doctor, and diminish the public’s trust in the profession.”

Basu was a highly-respected GP and his trial was packed with supporters, friends and patients who pleaded for leniency.

His defence asked Judge Alice Robinson to spare the GP a custodial sentence because of his impeccable previous character and failing health.

However, despite labelling the public support “extraordinary”, the judge said she had no choice but to jail Basu because of the seriousness of the crime.

The married doctor was also sacked from his job at Shoebury Medical Centre after the criminal investigation ended.

Dr Marcovitch said the tribunal panel was left with no choice but to erase his name from the GMC register.

Unless he appeals, Basu will be struck off 28 days after he is officially informed of the tribunal’s decision.

Dr Marcovitch added: “In the panel’s judgment, Dr Basu’s conduct was fundamentally incompatible with his continuing to be a registered medical practitioner.”